


ulterior motives

by civillove



Series: plans wrapped in rubber bands [9]
Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 16:44:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18760384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/civillove/pseuds/civillove
Summary: Anon prompt on tumblr: Rio interrupting a girl’s night at Beth’s! Mature rating not required but encouraged ;)--Annie shrugs as if she’s asked about the weather. “What? We can’t talk about this? You and Gang Friend—”“Rio.”“—smushing your icing together is old news.”Ruby scrunches her nose, “Can we please stop using cookie metaphors?”





	ulterior motives

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Follows my series, deviates from 2x09. 
> 
> Mature aka explicit rating indeed.

 

Beth finds herself smiling as she pops open a second bottle of red wine, gently tipping it to pour into three stemless glasses on her counter. She smoothes her hand over her tank top, picking up her glass for a sip before refilling it evenly with the others.  Her ears pick up Ruby yelling something at Annie in her living room, who’s probably looking at Beth’s cards face down on the table that she left unattended. She shakes her head, a soft laugh leaving her lips as she recorks the wine and turns to look through the cabinets for some snacks.

They haven’t had a girl’s night in a long time, at least, not one that was _just_ for fun and didn’t include detailed layouts of crime and sewing colorful patterns into ski-masks. She curls her hair around her ear and lets out a soft sigh as her eyes dance over options: Oreos, ruffled chips and _oh,_ Reese Cups. She takes out a package of those and then the Oreos and shuts the cabinet door with her elbow.

As she unwraps a peanut butter cup, she considers how her partnership with Rio is slowly lacing back into her personal life. It feels seamless to say the least, which she’s afraid to think about for too long as if it’ll tear apart the stiches she’s trying so hard to hold together. It won’t be long until Dean figures it out, she knows that, but she can’t think about that until she has to. She wants to be able to live in the ignorance of both sides of her life working together, one step at a time, her family safe and happy while fulfilling her other needs. That she feels connected to other parts of herself that Dean told her she had to cut ties with, that Rio knots back together with rough fingers that fit against her skin like puzzle pieces.

The jobs have been slow moving, which she knows is necessary, but it’s a schedule she has to get used to. It’s safer this way and it leaves her calendar open for things that are important: her kids, family dinners, recitals and swim meets and bake sales…and a girl’s night.

She carries in the glasses of wine carefully, using the Oreos as a makeshift wobbly tray and sets them down on the table before taking her spot on the floor against the couch, pulling her legs up underneath her.

“What was all the commotion?”

“Annie was looking at your cards,” Ruby tuts, her eyes widening accusingly at her sister. “Again.”

Annie scoffs and makes a dramatic head tilt that pushes her short blonde hair over her shoulder. “I was not. The cards spoke to me.”

“Spoke to you by looking under the glass table.” Her friend mumbles against her wine glass, making Beth laugh before she picks up the cards and tosses them at Annie.

“Well what’s the point now?” She asks, popping a whole Reese Cup into her mouth. She breathes in through her nose, enjoying the taste of peanut butter far too much as Annie reaches over to grab the Oreos.

“Yeah, especially now that we’ve got these.” She grins and tears the container open, stealing a few before a pout tugs on her lower lip. “Wait, I need milk.”

Ruby snorts, “You’ve got wine, make it work.”

Annie scrunches her nose, “You can’t just dip Oreos into wine, Ruby, that’s sacrilegious.”

Beth chews on the inside of her cheek after finishing the peanut butter cup, the taste of melted chocolate still on her tongue as she takes a sip of wine; her mind wandering to places it shouldn’t go on a girl’s night but it seems to do that when she least expects. She finds herself thinking about him at the most inopportune moments; when she’s trying to fill out paperwork at the dealership, when Dean is droning on and on about his day as she makes dinner, here with the girls, when she’s braiding Jane’s hair for dance practice.

It’s like he lets himself into her mind, leans against a doorframe and watches her as he so often does, their time together playing over and over in her mind’s eye. It’s odd moments that shouldn’t stick out that she remembers the most; the gentle brush of his thumb along her cheek, the squeeze of his fingers on her shoulder, his bruising touch to pull her out of harm’s way, a soft smile, the tensing of his jaw when he’s frustrated.

Beth enjoys working with him for many reasons; she thinks about that a lot, the danger and thrill and the act of being innately good at something other than running PTA meetings. But it’s not just that, she enjoys being _around_ him, something warm and solid settling in her lower belly at the thought. He sees her in a way others don’t, in a way others refuse to; actually _sees_ her and doesn’t shy away from the darker parts that threaten to coil around her like smoke.

An Oreo cookie hits her square in the jaw and she jumps, almost spilling wine on herself. Annie erupts in a fit of laughs, almost falling over onto the carpet and Ruby has to reach for her wine so she doesn’t stain anything in the nearby vicinity.

“Girl, what were you _thinking_ about?” Ruby asks, laughter wrapping around her syllables as she watches Annie writhe on the floor.

“Oh, I’ll tell you what she’s thinking about,” She rolls onto her side, her arm moving to lean her elbow against the floor, hand pillowing her head. “Gang friend.”

Beth feels her cheeks go pink. “His name is Rio _.”_ But her correction doesn’t really matter because both women are laughing over her lack of denying that Annie is right. Of all the things she lies about, that’s not going to be one of them tonight. All she can do is shake her head at them before taking another sip of wine.

She hasn’t seen him in a few weeks, not since she was sick. It took her a little longer to get back on her feet than she suspected, a pesky fever turned into a chest cold that knocked her out for the majority of last week. She was finally starting to feel like herself again, far less congestion and fevered fogs that threatened to overtake coherent thoughts. Beth can still feel his arms around her, the gentle press of his chest against her own as they breathe, his thumb stroking her shoulder and his lips brushing along her hairline.

“How’s _Rio_ doing these days?” Ruby asks, taking another sip of her wine but Beth can’t tell if the question is serious or not.

In all honesty, the jobs she’s been taking on haven’t involved them because it seems like most of the time she can do it on her own or with him, they’re partners after all. The girls haven’t asked to be cut in so she hasn’t tried to pull them back…but she has a feeling that Ruby isn’t asking about her work with him anyways.

“He’s…fine.” She trails off, biting into an Oreo so she doesn’t have to say anything else.

“Oh _is_ he fine.” Annie prods and it’s not a question and Beth hates how she’s wagging her eyebrows at her.

She kicks her hip with a socked foot and knocks her onto her back, “Stop saying stuff like that.”

Annie huffs out a soft noise and stares at the ceiling, reaching her arm back to Ruby who still has her glass of wine that she’s not handing over. Her hand eventually drops when the glass doesn’t meet her fingertips, which is probably for the best because there’s no way that’ll end well and Beth doesn’t feel like scrubbing red wine out of her carpet.

Her sister then turns her head and fixes her with a look that’s far too amused for her liking. “Have you been dipping your cookies in his milk?”

Ruby’s eyes nearly bulge out of her head and Beth’s mouth opens to the point where she feels like her jaw might hit the ground. “Annie!”

She shrugs as if she’s asked about the weather. “What? We can’t talk about this? You and Gang Friend—”

“ _Rio_.”

“—smushing your icing together is old news.”

Ruby scrunches her nose, “Can we please stop using cookie metaphors?”

Beth stands from the floor to sit on the couch, setting her wine glass down on the coffee table. She’s purposefully quiet as she tries to think about how to put this because ‘old news’ isn’t exactly accurate anymore. She takes another Oreo between her fingers and takes it apart, eating the icing off the cookie with her tongue as her friends quiet down and give her expectant looks.

She hasn’t had time to tell them a _lot_ about what’s been going on with her lately; the things she’s done, meetings she’s been a part of, the man she…

She clears her throat and opens her mouth as the back of her neck turns pink, hand settling around her wine glass and squeezing like it’s somehow some sort of button to buy herself more time.

“We’ve just been handling business.” Is what finally comes out of her mouth, “I’m easing back into things slowly, the cash flow is the same but it seems like I’m spending more time trying to hide everything more than actually spend it.”

Ruby nods because of course she understands but Annie is just sort of staring at her, eyes trying to read words she’s not saying printed on her body. She feels like a bug under a microscope, that heat from the back of her neck moving to settle in her cheeks and flushing along her chest.

Annie’s mouth opens slowly in surprise because she sees her, _actually_ sees her and what she’s trying to bury under shop talk—damn her sister for always having this weird sort of ESP paired with her sex life.

“You slept with him again.”

Ruby gasps and then chokes on a sip of wine, coughing into her shoulder. Beth just sighs, shaking her head at Annie.

“How many times?”

“Just…” Beth trails off, not sure why she’s about to tell them this. “You know, twice.”

“Twice as in, _three times total?”_ Annie screeches and Ruby lets out a laugh, nudging Beth with her arm as she says ‘go head girl’ at the same time.

She hates the look on her sister’s face at her admission—it’s not quite judgement, it’s not as harsh, but it’s _something_ unpleasant and it makes her squirm a little. Yes, okay, she’s giving into things that she wants, feeding her needs, but it’s not like she’s being completely irresponsible. The morning after pill is effective and at this point in her life, after having four kids, she knows her body and she knows how to take care of it.

Beth bites down on every instinct in her being that tells her to lash out with Annie’s faults, to remind her that she isn’t perfect. How she slept with a married man and that she has an equally detailed list of past fuck ups to take the heat off herself but…then she remembers.

She’s not doing anything wrong by sleeping with Rio and she doesn’t have to act like she has something to apologize for.

“It just happens.” She says instead, lifting her wine to her lips because that’s the best way to describe it.

Beth doesn’t plan on it and it’s hard for both of them to deny their attraction when they’re working so closely together. Sometimes being with him takes her by surprise but that doesn’t mean she wants him any less. She has no idea what they are or what they’re doing and while that shade of gray is comforting and terrifying at the same time; this, whatever it is, is working right now and she’s not about to try and dissect it until she has to.

Annie’s eyes soften as she looks at her, glancing at Ruby and finally taking her wine back as her friend puts a hand on her arm.

“We know honey, we’re not saying you should stop…you’re a grown woman capable of making your own decisions.”

“But you should be careful.” Annie speaks up and Beth gets where she’s coming from, she really does. She’s her sister and she’d be saying the same thing if she were in Annie’s position—after all, on the outside, none of it’s a good idea.

Rio’s a criminal _but so are you_ , her business with him is dangerous, they’re partners but he doesn’t tell her everything _because he’s teaching her_ and the last thing she should be doing is throwing pleasure into the mix…but she’s not sure if they can work together without it.

It threatens to swallow them whole no matter how much she tries to resist.

She looks at the two of them, holds their gaze as she offers a small smile and nods, feels touched at their sentiment but at the same time…they really don’t know her at all, not anymore. But she’s not sure if she’s ready to share that piece of her yet, not tonight, not when the whole point of wine and too many sweets is to try and relax.

“So…” Ruby trails off a moment, drawing Beth’s attention back to the conversation. “where exactly did you _do_ this twice?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Annie holds up a hand. “If I’m getting details, I need more wine.”

Beth laughs and while she intends to tell them nothing, she reaches for Annie’s wine glass as a source of a quick getaway, a few moments to collect herself. This conversation, however, is probably unavoidable—so she better just get more wine and buckle down, getting through it means its over faster.

She grabs all the wine glasses again and stands, moving towards the kitchen as Ruby says something about Rio’s tattoos and Annie makes a choking noise when she talks about the one on his neck. She rolls her eyes and curls her hair around her ear, setting the glasses down with a soft sigh before reaching for a bottle chilling in the fridge—

and pauses as she sees movement on the deck outside her back door.

Beth runs a hand over her face as she approaches the door, already knowing who it is before she slowly opens it to step outside into the cool night air. Who else likes to show up at her house unannounced other than the FBI?

Rio offers her a small smile as he stands there, hands stuffed into the pockets of his buttoned jean jacket, his eyes traveling over her body and landing on her shorts that have cows printed on them. Amusement tugs at his lips and she feels herself flush pink but pretends not to notice what he’s looking at.

Instead she crosses her arms over her chest and clears her throat. “What are you doing here?”

His mouth opens a little in mock offense before taking a step forward, “What? I can’t just stop by to say hello?” Despite the cold, she can feel the air crackle with heat around them, his body angled towards hers. “Maybe borrow a cup of sugar?”

A soft scoff leaves her lips because, “No.”

He smirks and nods softly, licking his lips as he looks away from her, eyes scanning the outside of her house. Rio leans into her personal space as he talks but she’s not sure if it’s something he does consciously.

“Okay, in that case I need to talk to you about a few things.”

A red-light flashes in her brain because no, not tonight, not with Ruby and Annie waiting on her. Or worse, her neck blotches red, with what they’ve been talking about. She’s not sure if one can die of embarrassment but she’s not willing to find out.

Beth quickly steps back into the doorway, blocking his way from stepping inside. “I’m busy.”

That soft amusement playing in his eyes is quickly disappearing and she knows the longer she keeps this conversation up, the more she toys with the string that sits in-between Rio’s patience and unbridled frustration.

“I don’t care.” He adds on and part of her wants to ask why everything has to be so insistent, why he constantly has to show up unexpected and hijack whatever day she’s having, regardless of who’s she’s spending it with. His expression shifts as he watches her and he shakes his head as if he can hear her thoughts, “This ain’t _Fine & Frugal, _you want scheduled breaks then you go work with your sister, darlin’. I don’t wait on you.”

Beth lets out a slow breath and even though she knows this is a losing battle, she tries, “I’m in the middle of doing…stuff.”

Rio blinks at her, “Stuff.” He repeats, unamused.

“Yes,” She’s going to insist on this as long as she can, the girls will come looking for her at some point. “Believe it or not I’m capable of doing important things without you.”

He opens his mouth to say something but of course, _of course,_ Annie’s big mouth projects her voice all the way into the kitchen: “Bring the tequila too Beth, we want to guess-n-drink how many tattoos we think Gang Friend has!”

Beth can _feel_ rather than see Rio’s expression because she refuses to look at him, her hand coming up to rest over her face a moment as she closes her eyes because _oh my god._

“You wanna guess or…?” The sound of his voice is far too amused and she puts her hand up, stopping him in his tracks.

“Not another word.” She demands, a soft laugh tumbling from his lips.

Rio switches gears, clearing his throat as he straightens his back, the collar of his jean jacket a little tight around his neck, almost like the bird is trying to fly free from his skin and into the sky. “We can talk shop in front of the ladies, I meant what I said, gotta do this tonight.”

He tries to walk past her but she puts her hand on his chest, pushing gently, about to tell him for the last time that now isn’t going to work but there’s a sharp intake of breath into his lungs and he pulls back from her.

She pauses, hand still hovering from where she’s touched him, eyes assessing his form because…did she just hurt him? It’s then she notices how he’s holding himself, shoulders tight, guarded, something she didn’t recognize before because he hides pain so well. Too well.

“What happened?” There’s concern laced throughout her tone and she notices him almost recoil against it; her voice too soft, the genuine emotion too raw. She reaches to touch the same place again but he slowly intercepts, pushing her wrist aside.

“Nothing,” But she doesn’t let up, she continues to stare and his eyes narrow at her stubbornness like it’s not one of the things he likes most about her. “Turf war at the monkey bars.”

Beth lets out a soft sigh because clearly he’s more comfortable with giving her this story than being honest with her. “And what? You couldn’t hold your ground?”

He smiles but it’s something distant and indifferent. “What can I say, ma? Some of those playground kids are vicious.”

She rolls her eyes, hand too quick for him to push away this time as she plays with the pocket flap on his jean jacket right over the spot that seems to be painful. They’re standing rather close again, like they usually do, the heat of his body kissing her own.  His eyes dance over the movements of her hand against his chest before settling on the skin he can see through the thin material of her tank top.

“You should let me take a look at it.”

He considers her a moment, really seems to think about it before he shakes his head. “Nah, I’m good.”

She fixes him with a look of disbelief, letting her hand fall. “Oh _now_ you want to leave?” She opens the door a little further and motions inside with a soft head tilt, watching him as he stands, unmoving, fingers flexing at his sides like he might bolt. “Come on, it’ll be quick and you can talk to me about what couldn’t wait until tomorrow.”

Beth doesn’t wait for him to follow because she knows he will, the door gently closing after he steps inside. She moves to open the fridge, grabbing the bottle of red wine to make her way back into the living room where Annie is now laying down on the couch, laughing, while Ruby is collecting cards.

“What took you so long?” She asks, looking up in her direction.

Beth pauses a moment, handing Annie the wine bottle. “Uh, just…unexpected work.”

Annie sits up and takes the cork out with a resounding _pop,_ not waiting a moment to take a sip directly out of the bottle. “Yeah? Like what?”

Rio must step in behind her, because both their eyes zero in on him like some sort of homing beacon. He clears his throat and says, “Ladies” in a hushed whisper that reminds her of gravel, the sound digging between her bones and making her shiver. His eyes then glance over the wine bottle in Annie’s hand with a soft smile. “Startin’ early tonight I see.” 

“Oh I’m taking zero judgement from you tonight, homeboy.” Annie’s mouth slides off the top of the wine bottle with a slurping noise that makes Ruby wince. “Zero.” She then stares at Beth like she’s got a third eye growing on her forehead.

She clears her throat and quickly starts backing up towards her stairs, “Right well, we won’t be long. Just have to take care of a few things.”

And god, she knows what this must look like, what it sounds like—Rio showing up in the middle of the night, sneaking upstairs to take care of ‘business’. Ruby’s eyes are already wide and now her mouth is open like a Venus fly trap and Beth wants nothing more than the stairs to open up and swallow her whole.

“You like cookies, Rio?” Annie asks suddenly, her tongue licking her lips. “You like dipping them. in. milk?” She raises her eyebrows, very pointedly and Rio purses his lips, tilting his head like he's about to ask her a question to cover his confusion but Beth tugs on him towards the stairs before he has a chance.

“Ignore her.”

She quickly goes upstairs before another warped cookie analogy can leave her sister’s mouth, Rio’s patient steps following her as she leads him into the master bathroom. She feels like she can finally breathe when she closes the bathroom door—just them, no one else watching to question every small word, or look or touch that they might share. There’s a weird sinking sensation in realizing that this small part of her life is beginning to feel like the only thing that makes sense; everything else is so complicated.

But this? This _feels_ easy.  

She licks her lips, reaching under the sink for a first aid kit to set on the counter, Rio hovering near the bathroom door and watching, eyes dipping along the curves of her body like he’s somehow memorizing her. Beth thinks about the fact that this is the first time he’s been upstairs in her house despite the one time he’s dropped off an associate with a gunshot wound into her daughter’s bedroom.

That whole situation feels so long ago, the fractured beginnings of working together, so different than how it feels now. She glances at the bathroom door, hates that she nearly feels overwhelmed with the fact that her bed is so close, the springs and sheets speaking to her from under the bathroom door.

Beth clears her throat and opens the first aid kit, trying to get her mind to focus on the task at hand…but then realizes she has no idea what she’s doing because she doesn’t know the extent of his injury. She glances up at the mirror, Rio coming up behind her, his eyes brushing along her shoulder and the side of her neck.

Her stomach slams _up_ into her ribcage as she’s reminded of that seedy bar, watching him watching _her_ through the bathroom mirror, leaning forward to hike her dress up. His hand on the back of her thigh as the other tore her underwear off, cock pressing against her ass as he leaned down to kiss her neck—

She shakes her head, her hand gripping the sink as the other rests inside the first aid box.

“You’re going to need to take your jacket off. Shirt too.”

He smirks, his breath skittering along her throat and making her shiver before he pulls back to do what she asks. He unbuttons the jean jacket, easily sliding it off his arms before taking the t-shirt over his head. There’s blood clearly visible on the white fabric as he peels it off his skin and a soft intake of breath greets her lungs as she sees a jagged, ugly red line across the right side of his chest.

Rio moves to lean against the sink, Beth’s hands quickly pulling out antiseptic, cotton balls and a wide Band-Aid. She doesn’t want to think about what made the mark but as her fingers touch his pec to get a better look, her mind wanders. It had to be some sort of knife because the bullet graze she’s seen on him before didn’t look like this.

“You going to tell me what actually happened?” She asks, leaning forward and angling her gaze down just slightly.

“I told you,” His voice is rough, a little lazy in a way that tells her he’s not about to divulge anything new. “Playground really doesn’t get any easier.”

Beth presses some cotton balls to the top of the antiseptic bottle, soaking them before she starts cleaning out his wound. It’s not too deep so he won’t need stitches and this explains why he was ignoring the whole thing altogether; something to take care of later with the nonchalant excuse that he’s been through worse. None of that, however, makes her feel any better.

“This could have gotten infected,” She licks her lips, concentrating. If her handiwork stings, Rio never moves.

He does however shrug his one shoulder, “I don’t need you to clean up after me, I’ve been takin’ care of myself for a long time…that doesn’t change just because we’re partners now.”

Her eyes look up into his own, pausing a moment before tracing the scruff on his jawline with her gaze and the fullness of his lower lip as she unconsciously licks her own. “And yet here you are, in my bathroom, letting me clean out what’s probably a knife wound with cotton balls.”

Rio hums, his hand lifting to brush hair off her shoulder, his hand wrapping around the side of her throat as his thumb traces her pulse point. She pauses, her own hand resting against his chest after she sets the cotton balls down on the sink.

“You don’t recognize my ulterior motives by now?” His touch is warm and insistent and a gasp tumbles out of her throat when he squeezes the back of her neck and _tugs,_ pulls her flush against his chest, her lips moments away from his.

“Or maybe,” He whispers and they’re breathing the same air. “It’s that you do because they’re the same as yours.”

Beth’s heartbeat slams against her ribcage so hard that it almost hurts and he waits, unmoving, for her to make a decision. She knows she could push him away, that he’d let her; that she could clean up his cut and they could talk about what they need to and that he’d leave without a second glance.

But that’s not what she wants.

So she leans forward, almost too quickly, and greedily presses her mouth against his own. The kiss is too rough, all teeth, his grip on her neck grounding her as he opens his legs to accommodate her. Her hand slips between their bodies, undoing his jeans with one hand, a shuddered groan emptying into her mouth as her fingers wrap around his cock. His skin is hot, her thumb swiping over the head and causing his hips to jerk forward into her grasp.

When they finally have to pull back for air, Rio’s lower lip is swollen a delicious red, his eyes nearly black with desired heat and he tilts her head to the side so his mouth can fall to her neck, to the hidden valley of skin along her collarbone. Her wrist is cramped in his jeans and she just manages to grip his shaft, thumb once again trailing along the head before he’s had enough and his hands seize her hips.

He pushes her back, holding onto her, his lips finding hers again as they end up against the glass shower door, Beth messily yanking his jeans down as Rio nearly tears her cow-printed shorts trying to get them down.

“This gotta tie or somethin’?” He asks, barely glancing down at her shorts as he tries to figure them out.

She laughs, the sound warm and freeing as it leaves her chest and she helps him get them off, underwear quickly following. His body leans against her own, puzzle pieces slotting together, the head of his cock pressing between her legs and teasing the swollen skin of her lips. A soft whine leaves her mouth, her hand grabbing at his back, nails dragging across his skin and probably leaving marks that he doesn’t seem to notice or care about.

Rio grabs her thigh, hiking her leg up over his hip and her back arches as he slides inside her, face burying itself in her neck as she adjusts to him. She squeezes his shoulders, his waist, a guttural noise leaving her throat as he finally begins to move, the position that their bodies are in allowing him to push deep.

It’s all too quick, the sound of their bodies moving together, heavy breathing, the glass door shuddering underneath their combined weight, Rio’s groans and Beth’s heightening climax as she cums first. She moans his name, which only seems to encourage him to thrust his hips faster before he’s losing it to, a strangled noise emptying against her skin, into her pores, finding a home there.

He holds her up even though she can feel his body trembling, scattered kisses scattered along her collarbone as he pulls back. Their foreheads press together and Beth licks her lips, nuzzling her nose against his own before he moves to set her down on the tub. She cleans herself up, grabs a washcloth and wets it with warm water, dragging it over her skin and between her legs as her eyes glaze along his tan skin, pausing over some ink that she recognizes and some that she doesn’t.

“Do you have any tattoos on your legs?”

Rio turns to look at her over his shoulder and smiles, just a little, as he pulls his briefs up. “Nah.”

She hums, getting dressed, putting the washcloth in a hamper by the toilet as he buttons up his jeans. She moves for the Band-Aid still sitting on the sink but his hand gently closes around her wrist, preventing her from picking it up.

“I got it,” She opens her mouth to protest but he quiets her by kissing her knuckles, “For real.”

Beth nods and he drops her arm, tearing open the Band-Aid with his teeth as he leans against the counter again. She needs something to do with her hands so she plays with the bottom of her hair before finally getting it out of her face by tying it up into a bun.

“So…that thing you wanted to talk about? That couldn’t wait?”

He looks up at her, his skin still kissed pink from intimacy and he holds her gaze for a few moments before, “The drop tomorrow, I want you to wait for me.” She’s not going to argue with him, she remembers the last time she didn’t listen, didn’t wait and how terribly south everything had gone in such a short amount of time. “This client’s gettin’ cold feet and I don’t trust them. Not around you, not alone.”

_Not around you, not alone_ his voice echoes against her eardrums for a few moments, a swelling warmth wrapping around her chest at how… _protective_ that somehow feels.

Beth licks her lips and nods but he’s still looking at her and waiting. “Imma need you to say it.”

She wants to roll her eyes but doesn’t, “I’ll wait.”

Rio nods, giving his attention back to the large Band-Aid he’s about to put across his chest. She watches him for a few moments before she has to look away, her eyes finding his bloody shirt on the ground and while she knows this isn’t as bad, she has to say it.

“You need to be more careful.”

He doesn’t look up at her as he presses the adhesive against his skin, “I meant what I said, I’m good, you don't gotta worry about me.”

“But I do.” And it comes out so quick that it nearly surprises her, her hands suddenly moving to distract herself as she puts unused cotton balls back in the tin and throws away Band-Aid wrappings.

His eyes follow her movements, she can feel it before he finally reaches for her. Rio’s hand cups her jawline and forces her gaze to meet his own before he brushes a thumb over her lower lip.

“Is that what you want?”

Beth doesn’t know what she wants, still doesn’t after all this time but settling for something small like this? It’s a start. “Yes.” Rio nods, just once, and a soft smile tugs at the ends of her mouth as she says, “I’m going to need you to say it.” 

He smirks, pressing the corner of her mouth with his thumb before letting his hand drop. “I’ll be more careful, ma.”

Beth licks her lips, a more genuine smile finding its way on her face before she picks up his bloody t-shirt to put into the hamper. She quickly crosses into her bedroom, digging through the one drawer Dean still has to pull out a clean white t-shirt, coming back into the bathroom to hand it to him.

Rio stares at it a moment before shaking his head. “I’m not puttin’ that on.”

She rolls her eyes, “Oh stop being a baby, it’s not going to bite you.”

He huffs out a sound but does take the shirt, sliding it over his head. It’s a little big on him, his frame much leaner than Dean’s but it doesn’t have his blood all over it, so she feels satisfied, and settles her hand on his chest as he stands to grab his jean jacket.

“Tomorrow for the drop, I’ll pick you up, yeah?” He says, pulling the jacket on and fixing the collar. Rio pauses as he walks towards the bathroom door, giving her that same confused look that pinches his eyebrows together. “Your sister ain’t going to ask me about cookies again, is she?”

A laugh startles out of her chest and she runs a hand over her face before shaking her head, “No just…try to sneak out the back.”

He nods, once, his hand cupping the side of her cheek and drawing himself closer to press a kiss against her temple. Beth allows her eyes to close, to memorize his touch before it’s suddenly gone and he’s out the door.

When she comes back downstairs, Ruby and Annie have moved their way into the TV room, a reality housewives show playing in the background as they pour tequila shots and drink every time one woman calls the other a bitch on screen.

Annie’s laughter is infectious and Beth finds herself smiling as she makes her way over to them, plopping herself between them on the small couch. They don’t say anything or try to call her out and for that she’s grateful—instead Ruby wraps an arm around her shoulders and Annie hands her a shot.

She holds onto it a moment before smiling a little, “It’s twelve by the way.” Beth looks at the both of them before tipping the shot back into her throat, the liquid burning deliciously all the way down. “He’s got twelve tattoos.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to everyone who is always reading this series and offering kudos and encouraging comments. i really appreciate all of you and it feels so lovely to be a part of this fandom! I'm always willing to talk at my tumblr and i accept prompts there too :) come say hi! blainesebastian.tumblr.com/ask


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